The 24 Americans living in Israel who had sued the State Department over US aid to the Palestinians have filed their opposition brief to the government’s motion to dismiss. The plaintiffs allege that aid money to the Palestinians is not being carefully scrutinized nor administered and funds terrorism.

The lawsuit was originally filed in November, 2012 in the United States District Court for Washington, DC. On April 8, 2013, however, attorneys for the US government filed a motion to dismiss their claims.

The plaintiffs contend that the State Department has recklessly ignored congressional safeguards and transparency requirements which govern US aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA). The Americans, some of whom are victims of terror themselves, allege that as a result of White House non-compliance with federal regulations, funds have been flowing to terror groups like Hamas. These Americans call on the US government to stop all funds to the Palestinians until the latter “fully comply with federal prohibitions against support for terrorism.”

In its response to their complaint, the US government, has asked the court not to allow the case to continue, claiming that the plaintiffs lack standing to bring this civil action and that the case raises “political questions” best left to the other branches of government.

The plaintiffs are opposing the motion to dismiss and argue that the suit is indeed “justiciable” and that far from being an “abuse of discretion,” as the defendants contend, enforcing limitations on federal foreign aid to the Palestinians against State Department abuses is the judiciary’s job.

The lawsuit makes it clear that it does not challenge the President and the State Department’s right to conduct foreign policy nor fund the Palestinians. These American plaintiffs simply object to the executive branch’s funding of the PA without oversight. It is a legitimate objection by two dozen Americans, who are the class of individuals Congress sought to protect through their safeguards. US funds are being utilized by the Palestinians for terrorism which threatens Americans and others and the plaintiffs are demanding their day in court to expose these dangerous abuses.

It is estimated that since the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, the United States State Department, via USAID has given over $4 billion to Palestinians. During the last four fiscal years, average aid has been roughly $600 million per year. Additionally, the United States gives approximately $200 million to the United Nations body UNRWA, each year, and during the fiscal years 2008 and 2009, UNRWA gave roughly $500 million of their funding to recipients in the West Bank and Gaza.

Under the Anti-Terrorism Act, the State Department is required to certify that the Palestinian government is committed to a peaceful co-existence with Israel before distributing funds, and ensure that no part of funding is used for terrorism.

Rather than defend the government’s foreign aid policy on its merits and provide proof that it truly knows where taxpayer money to the PA is going, the government’s lawyers are trying to dismiss the lawsuit on legal technicalities. They are saying that it is pure speculation that Americans can be injured by terrorism in Israel and that the issue of funding is a foreign policy power reserved to the US President and cannot be reviewed by the courts. It’ll be up to the court to decide.

For a copy of the plaintiffs’ memo in opposition to the motion to dismiss: http://www.scribd.com/doc/149859043/Bernstein-v-Kerry

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem / Shurat HaDin Israel Law Center)